- If you're looking to crate videos using
a top-down perspective like the angle that you see
in a lot of cooking, craft, or how-to videos,
or you wanna get a top-down perspective
of a diagram or a drawing to explain something
to your audience, then in this video I'm gonna show you
seven easy ways to do it.
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Hey it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video.
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So let's jump in to it.
A top down camera angle is great for getting your viewers
immersed in what you're doing on a tabletop
like cooking, drawing, doing crafts or even doing tech,
app, or phone reviews or tutorials,
and it's not that hard to do either.
So in this video we're gonna run through seven ways
you can do it, depending on your budget,
depending on how much room you've got,
and also depending on what gear you might already have.
And make sure you stick around to the end
'cause I'll run through two pieces of gear
that can help you easily get better results
just using your smartphone.
Whether as both a primary or a secondary camera.
The first solution I've got for you is just
using gear that you might already have.
This is using a standard tripod.
But really, at this point, this definitely isn't
the best solution to be able to get that top-down shot.
But if you've only got the tripod, and you're not interested
in spending any money, you don't have the ability
to spend any money and look at the other options
that we've got in this video,
then this might do the trick for you.
So this is where you'll set up your standard tripod
on the bench or on the table that you're gonna be recording,
and you will tilt your camera down so that it's facing down
to get that top-down angle.
The biggest things to be aware of
if you're gonna be doing your filming like this,
is depending on the tripod you've got
and depending on the camera that you're going to be using,
it's highly likely that your camera
will actually pick up the tripod legs in your shot.
You're also not going to have a heap of room in the shot.
So the area that you're gonna be filming,
it's going to be very space limited.
It'll also depend on which tripod you're actually using
because some of the cheaper ones won't actually
let you tilt your camera so that it's looking down.
Option number two is a tripod with a flippable head.
So an example of a tripod like this is the
Slik Video Sprint II tripod which sells for around
the $90 US price point.
Now these are small and easy to travel with.
This is actually my go-to travel tripod.
This one travels everywhere with me.
But one of the biggest advantages with this tripod
is that the head actually comes off.
So the bit that you connect your camera with,
you can take it off and mount it upside down
under the tripod legs.
Having the ability to mount your camera
or your phone upside down underneath the tripod legs
is a pretty cool way to be able to get that top-down look.
But again, you're still using a tripod.
So there's still gonna have your tripod
sitting on your table or on your desk
that you're gonna be filming at,
so it's gonna take up a heap of room which means that
you're not gonna have a lot of room there
for your actual filming.
So if you're gonna need a heap of room for cooking
or for drawing then this probably still won't be
the best option for you.
And it's still likely that you'll get the tripod legs
in your shot depending on which camera
or lenses you'll be using.
The third solution I've got for you is to use
a microphone stand.
Now these are something that you can pick up
for around the $20 price point
so it's definitely not expensive.
Now this'll work really well as a top-down camera angle
if you're going to be using small or light cameras
or phones, so something like a point-and-shoot
camera will work fine but anything bigger than that,
a mirrorless camera or a DLSR, it's probably gonna be
too heavy for a microphone stand.
So unlike the previous two solutions,
you'll actually set the tripod element of this
up on the ground, and then the boom pole for the microphone
will come forward and overhang
where you're going to be filming.
So this means there's no chance of getting
the tripod element in shot,
you're just gonna be filming
whatever's on your bench or your tabletop.
But the biggest limiting factor here is going to be
the amount of weight you can actually have
on that microphone stand and you may need to use
counterweights or sandbags on the tripod section
to make it more sturdy so it doesn't fall over if it's not.
Solution number four is a tabletop phone mount.
Now you could probably use these
with a point-and-shoot camera as well, with an adapter,
but these are designed specifically
for working with smartphones.
Now you can pick one up, there's an Arkon brand.
This sells for around $100, that's designed
specifically for this purpose, for cooking videos,
for demonstrations, for drawings,
this is what this is designed for.
The best part about this solution is
that it's not a permanent solution meaning you can just
lift it up onto the desk or counter
when you're gonna be filming,
and then put it away when you're done.
And also because of the way it's been designed,
it is unlikely that you'll actually be filming
the mount or the stand in your shot.
So that makes it really really useful
and it makes it a professional solution
for creating these videos.
Solution number five is a tripod crane or a tripod arm.
So essentially this is very similar to using a mic stand
but it's a much more robust sturdy solution.
So this'll work with bigger cameras as well as
your phones or point-and-shoots as well.
So really what this is is a tripod with a big extension arm
that you connect your camera or your phone
at the end of that arm, meaning that you can set up
the tripod element on the ground and then swing the arm out
over the area that you want to film
on your bench or on your table.
Now there's a heap of these to choose from
on places like Amazon and they normally start
around the $100 price point.
There's a lot for around 150, $160 mark,
but obviously these go up to really professional solutions
of over $1000 as well.
But the best part about this as a solution
is that you have the flexibility to get some height.
So if you really wanna lift your camera up high
and out of the way, then you can use one of these cranes
or extension arms to do that,
and you've also got the ability to mount
more professional cameras or heavier cameras
on these rigs as well.
Now you will need some sort of counterweight
or weights to hold the tripod still.
And in some cases you will need someone to stand there
and hold the crane or the arm for you on the tripod
to make sure that it's not gonna move around
and tip up while you're filming.
Solution number six is a wall or ceiling mount
for your camera.
Now this is really a permanent solution.
This is something you're gonna be fixing
your camera to the wall or to the ceiling.
You can pick up an Arkon Camera Mount
that you can mount on your ceiling or on your walls
for around the $38 price point, so definitely not expensive.
And this is a really great solution if you're looking
to leave something permanently set up,
or you're happy to have something screwed to your roof
or to your wall to be able to do a heap of
these types of videos.
The biggest advantages with a set-up like this
is it gives you a huge range of flexibility.
Not only can you mount small cameras and phones,
you can also mount big professional cameras
on these as well, 'cause they'll take a lotta weight.
You'll also be able to mount these quite a distance away
from the area that you'll be working in while you're filming
so that you've got that flexibility of being able
to zoom in and change your shot
or change the angle as you need to.
And there's no way there'll be any cameras
or tripod legs or anything in your shot with this solution.
And that leads us to solution number seven
which is another, more permanent solution,
and that's to have an overhead bracket
or a light stand with truss.
So what this is is a bar that's gonna be set up
to hang above the area that you're gonna be filming in.
So it's not physically attached to the roof,
it's on stands, but you can attach your camera
or any lights to it to be pointing down for your shooting.
So if you wanna attach multiple cameras
to get multiple angles, or you wanna be able
to attach lights or any other gear up there as well,
then this is a great solution.
Now you can pick up these kits starting out
at around the $180 price point but you will need
additional clamps or mounts to be able
to mount your cameras or any lights.
So this'd be a really good set-up for someone
who wants multiple cameras but also is looking for something
that is really a permanent set-up.
This isn't something that I would imagine you'd wanna be
setting up and packing up every time you wanna shoot.
So if you're gonna be doing a heap of videos,
then this may be the solution for you.
Now for a lotta people, smartphones are the best
secondary and even primary camera for shooting
top-down videos like this.
So here are two pieces of gear and software
that can help you get much better results
when you're using a smartphone for top-down videos.
The first one is a wide angle lens.
Now if you're using a set-up where you don't have
a heap of space, and maybe you've got your camera
hanging below the tripod in solution number two,
or you've got your camera tilted over on your tripod,
and facing down using solution number one,
in some cases like that a wide angle lens
may give you a heap more area to work with
when you're actually doing your filming.
As long as you're not filming the tripod legs in your shot.
So really depending on your set-up,
a wide angle lens may give you a lot more room
or capture space in your video for your top-down videos.
You can pick up a basic wide angle clip on lens
for your smartphone starting at around
the six or seven dollar price point
for the cheap generic ones, or if you're after something
more professional or something with higher quality glass,
then you could look at the Aukey lenses which sell
for under the $30 price point.
The second one is a piece of software called Reflector 2.
Now this is something that's gonna allow you
to set up your phone on one of these mounts
and monitor it from your computer or from your laptop
wirelessly, so this is really, really helpful
so that you can see what's going on
and see what you're actually recording
without having to try and look underneath
and look up at the camera to see what you're recording.
You can monitor your phone screen on your computer,
Mac or PC, even if you're using iPhone or Android,
you can remotely monitor your phone screen
using Reflector 2.
Now I did do a video on this a little while back
and I'll link it up on the cards now
if you'd like more information on that.
So those are my seven solutions
for creating top-down videos.
Now if you are using your smartphone
to create your videos, whether it's an iPhone
or an Android device, we've put together
a free PDF download taking you though
the ultimate process to create professional videos
with your smartphone.
Check out the link on screen now
and I'll see you in the next video.